The Cessna 0-1 "Bird Dog's" combat service began in
the Korean War where it served in a scouting role for Army and Marine units,
followed by active utilization in the Vietnam conflict as a forward air-control
aircraft. As late as 1968, pilots of O-1s would patrol over the Vietnam jungles
in search of targets, mark them with signal rockets, and direct air strikes by
tactical aircraft. Their slow speed of 115 mph proved valuable in observation
missions along friendly convoy routes while in contact with ground units to
report location of enemy ambushes and direct air strikes against them.

Drawbacks in the O-1 such as lack of armor protection, no
self-sealing fuel tanks, and reduced carriage capacity of rockets resulted in
their replacement by the Cessna O-2 and North American OV-10A and eventual
assignment to the South Vietnamese Air Force.

During the evacuation of all United
States Military forces from Saigon in 1975, a South Vietnamese air force major
took off from Con Son Island in a "Bird Dog" with his wife and five
children crammed in the small cabin. With enough gas to remain in the air for
only one more hour, the pilot spotted the aircraft carrier USS Midway
and by means of a dropped note requested permission to land on board. The ship's
Commanding Officer ordered the deck to be cleared and brought a Vietnamese
interpreter to the island to communicate with the pilot by radio. Without
benefit of a tail hook or barrier, the pilot made a slow approach to a
successful landing despite the fact that he had never seen an aircraft carrier
before let alone landed on one.

The Museum's aircraft is the plane used in that historic
landing, and was donated to the Museum by the USS Midway in 1975.
Unlike other aircraft in the Museum's collection, it had not served
operationally with either the Navy, Marine Corps, or Coast Guard.